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伯克利肥羊之家周报 07/11/2017

Weekly Bilingual Meeting on Tuesday 07/11/2017

Last week we heard that many of you enjoyed the 4th of July party at the East Bay Christian Church.

This coming Tuesday we will see how the very young Jerusalem Mega-church continued to deal with conflict and opposition, including among its own members. God’s presence and power in the midst of conflict clearly strengthened the early church for the challenges ahead.

The season after Easter and the resurrection of Jesus Christ is often called Pentecost from the Greek word for fifty. It marks 50 days following Jesus’ sacrificial death and ten days after his deliberate departure (Ascension) into Heaven. It also marks the beginning of the Christian church and eventually Christianity. For the summer months we are studying the birth and growth of the ancient First Century church, first in the Jerusalem “mega-church” where large numbers often met outdoors on the Jewish Temple courts and then as the church began to spread to other locations in the Mediterranean world. As the church began to spread outside of the Jewish homeland it gained more and more non-Jewish members. This was but the beginning of Jesus’ command and promise that his life and message would be spread to the entire world of nations.

The Book of Acts, which records this early church history is the second part of Luke’s description of the life of Jesus and it concentrates on his followers who were empowered by Jesus’ Spirit. Though Jesus left them physically, this minority community grew through powerful witness even against increasingly violent opposition by the Jewish community and the Roman state.

Paul of Tarsus, the brilliant, young and devoted Jewish leader who violently opposed Jesus’ followers in the early days of the Jesus’ Movement (the Christian Church), eventually joined the Movement himself and became one of its chief leaders. In one of his thirteen letters that are found in the New Testament of the Bible, he makes the statement that without the reality of the physical resurrection of Jesus, claimed by numerous eyewitnesses as the central truth, Christians should be considered the most foolish of all people. The Jewish leaders and the Romans who put Jesus to death believed that would be the end of his movement, but shockingly, they soon had to contend with a much larger movement than the one when Jesus was physically with them!

6:50-7:40 Culture Presentation: The Development of American Music : Part 2–Siklam Wong

7:40-8:35 Bible Discussions in English and Chinese: Acts 6:1-15 – Luke, the historian, tells us about the first major dispute among the Jerusalem Christians and how it was peacefully resolved. We also see how some differences between homeland(Palestinian) Jews and diaspora (outsider/Grecian) Jews led to the arrest and trial of one of the key diaspora Christian leaders from the Jerusalem Church.

8:45 End of program — Rides back home provided for EVERYONE.

Transportation

Please contact Joe Cell: 510-828-6135 . For the Tuesday night meeting, We have two pick-up locations:

Law School: on Bancroft Way (just down the hill from the International House), 5:15 p.m.

From your home: For having a ride from home, please let us know your address and cell number. All who need a ride, please confirm with Justin before 4:00 on Tues.

English Corners

This week’s on campus English Corners will meet, either inside at the Law School cafe area or outdoors upstairs, if the weather is fine, from 2:00 to 4:00 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. They will be hosted by Justin and Lai Chan on Tuesday, Joe and Justin on Wednesday and Friday. There will also be a Talk Time with Chi at the Junket restaurant in El Cerrito Plaza on Saturday from 2:00 – 4:00.

In addition, those who would like to meet any of the co-workers for personal tutoring in English, academic discussions, personal issues or spiritual conversation may request such meetings anytime.